Loose corn kernel timer
Kernels, not cobs. Choose how they come and how much you have — a cup of frozen corn is about two minutes at 800W.
Cook for
2 min 40 sec
2 min 10 sec – 3 min, stopping to stir at the halfway mark.
Yes
Cover the bowl. Kernels heat by steam, and an uncovered bowl gives you half-dry, half-cold corn.
- 1Put the kernels in a microwave-safe bowl with a tablespoon of water. Frozen corn needs no extra water — its own ice is enough.
- 2Cover with a plate or a microwave-safe lid. Leave a gap at one side for steam to escape.
- 3Cook 1 min 20 sec, then stir from the bottom up. The centre of a bowl of kernels is always the coldest part.
- 4Cook the remaining 1 min 20 sec.
- 5Stand for 1 minute before seasoning. Salt added early draws water out and makes the kernels tough.
Corn goes from sweet to starch quickly once picked, and no amount of cooking brings the sugar back. Frozen kernels are usually sweeter than fresh ones that have spent a week in the fridge — they are frozen within hours of picking.
Loose kernels are a completely different job from a cob. There is no husk to hold the steam, so the bowl and the lid do that work, and the stir at halfway is what stops the middle being cold while the edges are overcooked.
The three kinds also behave differently, which is why this has its own tool rather than reusing the cob timings.
Frozen, canned, fresh: what changes
Frozen kernels are the sweetest of the three, because they are frozen within hours of picking and the sugar has not had time to turn to starch. They also carry their own water, so they need no splash added.
Canned corn is already cooked and sitting in liquid. Drain it well or that liquid heats faster than the kernels and turns the bowl soupy. Fresh kernels cut from a cob are the firmest and take marginally longer.
Cover it, stir it
A bowl of kernels heats by steam, so the lid matters more than the time. Cover with a plate or a lid with a vent, and stir from the bottom at halfway — the centre of the bowl is always the last part to get hot.
Salt after, not before. Salt draws water out through the kernel skin and they turn tough within a couple of minutes.